Thin Line
by Dark Austral
Summary: Tag to THE LOST TRIBE. John and Todd have a little 'chat' after the events that took place and realize that they're more alike than they want to admit.


Disclaimer: If I owned SGA, there would be another season and more John and Todd interaction :)

A/N: Alright folks, this is an episode tag to THE LOST TRIBE, if you haven't seen it turn back now unless you want to be spoiled and go watch it!! Otherwise, enjoy a snippet between John and Todd (who I was so happy lived in the end, thank god, for a moment there I was like 'They're gonna kill him, no way out'. But Todd's a sneaky guy. Thank god). Oh and if I mispelled the Onatrio device, sorry.

**Thin Line**

He would have never thought in a million years that Colonel Shepherd would activate the Ontario device. The massive destruction would cause the deaths of millions and if he knew one thing killing innocent people to lure and kill the Wraith was not part of Shepherd's characterization.

Had he truly underestimated this mere human he granted the Gift of Life too?

Todd's rational mind would have listened out Shepherd's case. The man's surprise and confusion radiated off of him despite the distance of space in between the two men. But the time for negotiation was over. Rage boiled in his veins stemming from the grief of his men and the frustration and fear that all his work of gaining control over the Wraith Alliance was slipping through his fingers like the lifeblood of a human. Yet, on a deeper level, Todd knew that a part of his rage came from the betrayal of this single dark-haired human. His past relationship with the man and the lengths both had gone through to start this uneasy trust between Wraith and human was now forever gone in the shattering explosion of his two wraith ships.

No. Never again would this trust be rebuilt on the mere exchange of information and aid. The usage of the Ontario device would forever leave a wide black stain of doubt between the two males.

Grinding his teeth, Todd dug his nails into the weak man named Woosley's shoulder. He felt the man shudder in fear and despair filled the air. Todd smelled the man's dying hope that Shepherd would contact back with the information regarding the location of the device. The intoxicating delight of seeing the man tremble sent waves of adrenaline coursing through the wraith's body.

Oh, how much he wanted to feed right now, to suck the small-framed man's life out till all that was left was a corpse. But no. Flickering his gaze down at the man, Todd won control over his instincts. He did not live for over 10,000 years by merely listening to his instincts. His mind was sharper than that. If only, his mind was open.

Yet could one blame him? Todd had lost countless of soldiers that he had managed to scrap up and earn their trust in the blink of an eye. And he could not risk communicating to the other Hive ships outside of his alliance in fear of an attack and the questioning of the queens. Not to mention his death due to his treachery of working with humans, more over humans from Atlantis and the notorious Colonel Shepherd.

Cat-like eye shifted back to the screen, zooming in on the green screen and the words 'Transmission Suspended' flickering before him. What was taking so long? The more time that was wasted, the more wraiths would die. Not to mention the human worlds that utilized Stargates as a means of transportation. Many lives would be lost once the Gate was activated and exploded upon connection. Todd could only imagine the major lose of food and how that would only fuel the civil war that was occurring right now between Hives. All would end in bloodshed.

"_Not if I can help_," sneered Todd darkly in his mind just as the screen reestablished the connection to Atlantis.

Shepherd was clearly unsettled by the turn of events as the man once again tried to force his side of the argument into the conversation. As Teyla jumped in, Todd's impatience had worn thin. It now clouded his vision and drowned out any voices of reasoning.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

And Todd knew as he maneuvered his hand around Woosley what exactly to do. He could see it clearly in those dark blue eyes of the man he had feed upon. Memories were playing out, a sense of deja vu washing over Todd and Shepherd. Pulling back his feeding hand, Todd felt a tinge of regret of what he was about to say. He knew that Shepherd still carried the scars of Todd's feedings on him, even if the physical ones were gone.

Blocking out the guilt, Todd let rage growl out the one sentence he knew would win over the colonel. "John Shepherd, transmit the coordinates or I will feed on Mr. Woosley before your eyes."

-Atlantis-

John blinked, fear constricting his throat as the memory of him being on the other side drowned him out of reality. The mere fact that Todd had used his first name pushed forward the severity of the situation. And then there was the threat. A threat, Shepherd knew all too well and he had a knack that Todd was using it to his advantage.

He remembered the fear in his friends' eyes, as Koyla demanded the exchange of some Genii officer. He remembered the brief look of pity as Todd's eyes whispered 'I'm sorry' before slamming the feeding hand on his chest. He remembered blazing white pain.

"_No_," Turning his upper body, Shepherd knew that Woosley would never be able to withstand a feeding. And like hell would someone have to go through what he had endured while he was in command. Yelling out orders to transmit the information, Shepherd glanced back at Todd, locking eyes with the Wraith.

For a while, Shepherd had begun to believe that this alien who had both taken and saved his life could be trusted. That despite the games Todd tended to play, the wraith would always see reasoning. That he would hear him out. They had a relationship as he had explained to Woosley. They knew each other. Todd was the rational one, weighing his options and providing only the necessary amount of information to get the job done, even if the ends only furthered his own goals.

And John. He was the one that heard Todd out, argued his case to the other Atlantis officials and helped ease the tension between the two groups.

"_Guess not_," growled a dark voice in John's mind. Todd didn't hear him out and worse. A bubbling anger began to morph into cold rage. That green skinned alien assumed that he had been behind the attacks…had wanted millions of people to die just to get back at him.

He barely heard the parting words of Todd, relief warming his battered body briefly as Woosley was pulled out of the screen alive. He had saved the man, had prevented a feeding that he remembered all too well. As the communication was cut and black filled the screen, John allowed the coldness of rage to fill his entire being. Now was not the time to fool around with words. No. He would do whatever it took to find Rodney and Dr. Jackson and destroy that device. There was enough blood on his hands.

Todd was right. Every minute was precious. Shifting his shoulders, John blocked out the pain of the stitches on his back and glanced at Zelanka and Teyla. Desperate times called for desperate measures and he was willing to join with anyone that had a ship with a hyperdrive to arrive at the planet before Todd.

Cause God help him; he would give that wraith a piece of his mind.

**-3 weeks later on a remote planet-**

Shepherd groaned in pain. His aching body throbbed and he was grateful that he was lying on soft, thick grass. Blinking open his eyes, John grimaced when the sun's rays hit his face. Turning his head, Shepherd rolled his entire body onto its side and pushed off the ground. He was in a small clearing, trees surrounding him. Deep within the woods, John could tell by the darkening sky night was coming soon.

The last thing he remembered was that him and his team were in a village tending to the wounded that had been hit hard by the Stargate exploding. Hitching rides on the Dadeulus was the only way to arrive at the now isolated communities. It was the tenth planet they had come into contact that had barely survived the Ontario device. Rodney was working hard in trying to find ways of reinstalling a new Stargate on the planets. But the number of spares was dwindling as time went on. Atlantis had quickly gotten another one from the remains of the Midway station. One gate they found on a non-occupied planet and had given that one to the Traveller settlement.

Yet, as the number continued to roll in, Shepherd and Woosley began to worry how they would deal with the crisis of trying to reunite these lost villages to the rest of the galaxy. Their survival depended on the Stargate and now that it was gone…

Shepherd shook his head, blinking away the fogginess of his mind. No, he couldn't think about that right now. He had to worry about where the hell he was. Back at the village, it was close to evening when he had told Ronon and Teyla that he would do a short sweep of the area while Rodney was lost in his datapad searching for a nearby Stargate. He had been out less than five minutes when something hit him in the back and all he saw was blackness.

Rolling his shoulders, Shepherd felt the grogginess leave him. Patting his side, fear banished the remaining aches when he noticed that his vest, gun and communication device were gone. Hopping onto his feet, Shepherd spun around and spotted them in a neat pile next to a boulder.

Shepherd snarled and would have taken a step forward if a certain someone was not perched on the boulder. Sitting on the boulder, arms crossed was Todd. The tall wraith was dressed in the long black leather coat but the tangled, wild hair and pale green skin still hung about the wraith.

Fists clenching at his sides, Shepherd felt anger begin to rise in him. He thought that maybe after three weeks the hurt would have gone away. It seemed he was wrong. And it seemed the same case with Todd.

The wraith pushed himself off the boulder and took two strides stopping a foot away from the human. "Hello…Shepherd," Todd hissed the name, his own rage flickering in the back of his mind.

"What the hell are you doing here?" snapped John, "And where is my team?"

"Your team is safe back at the village," responded Todd, "But we are far away from them and I have concealed your tracking device at the moment to allow us for some uninterrupted time."

"Oh?"

Todd gritted his teeth as he took in the seething remark. He had been right. Their trust was forever gone. "I wish to know the results of the Ontario device."

Shepherd raised his own arms and crossed them across his chest. Face tight in restrained anger, he replied in a concise manner, "It's destroyed."

"Really?"

"Yes, McKay disabled it-"

The wraith took a step forward and pointed a finger at the human, "Disabling it is point-"

Shepherd took his own step forward and knocked away the finger with powerful wave of his hand, "And we blew it to kingdom come. If it makes you feel any better I was the one that fired the blasts straight into the base."

Silence fell upon the pair. The glares between Shepherd and Todd did little justice in revealing the thick tension building. Todd narrowed his eyes. "This better be the truth."

The calm exterior Shepherd exuded exploded in a blaze of rage. Todd's eyes widened as a fist slammed straight and true into his jaw snapping his head to the side. Pain blinded him as blood filled his mouth.

Spitting the black liquid, he watched it splatter on the pristine green grass. Without sparing another moment, he jerked his head back and was about to attack when Shepherd sent his knee slamming into the wraith's stomach causing Todd to stumble backwards.

"I was telling the truth!" roared the man. "I told the truth back on Atlantis when I said we weren't behind the attack!" Sprinting forward, Shepherd drew back his arm to punch once more. If he could drive Todd backwards, then that would make it easier in retrieving his weapon.

But Todd snarled, a stream of black blood dripping off his chin. He blocked the next punch with ease. "I could not risk it."

"Risk it," anger lit the blue eyes on fire. "I almost died when our Stargate exploded! I almost lost Zelenka!" "_I almost destroyed Atlantis_," never left his mouth but it hung in the air and the wraith could read it all too well.

Todd found himself a bit shaken at the bloodlust beginning to ooze of off of Shepherd. Even during their capture, Shepherd had remained cool and detached. He was a human who rarely let his emotions rule over his actions.

Shaking his head, Todd rammed his left arm into Shepherd's chest flinging the human into the air only to crash back down where he had woken up. He would not let Shepherd anywhere near his belongings.

Marching to the rising form, Todd wiped the blood away. "Even if you did not know, it was your actions that lead to it being activated," roared Todd, his own control over his emotions breaking like the twig he stepped on.

"How the hell were we suppose to know?" Shepherd slid into a defensive position and blocked the next swing, "Rodney and Jackson would have died if they didn't obey their captors' commands. But at least, they disabled it! If it weren't for them, more people would have died!"

Shepherd rammed himself into Todd. Todd grabbed the tuft of the black shirt and lifted the man off of the ground, "If they had not discovered it in the first place, none of this would have happened!"

Rage and damaged pride blinded the two men that once worked side by side. It was to be expected some people claimed. How could a wraith and a human become allies, even more so friends? It would like a lion and sheep befriending each other. And it did not help that the two shared a history of feeding.

As Todd held Shepherd upwards, he drew back his feeding hand. In the tight grasp, Shepherd kicked and drew back his arm ready to punch Todd right in the face. The star-like tattoo became his target while Todd narrowed in on Shepherd's chest.

No longer was the fight about the betrayal that had occurred three weeks ago. No. All Shepherd saw was the wraith that had stolen his life. All Todd saw was the human that had tasted too good. Each became the ultimate threat to the galaxy: wraith and human. The Wraith ruled in fear and culled humans for their own needs. The humans, particularly the Atlantis expedition, caused problems after problems and killed innocent bystanders in their ignorance.

Shepherd's fist flew forward as Todd's arm shot towards the chest, eager to feed. Blue eyes widened in pure terror as the feeding hand neared his body. Golden eyes narrowed in annoyance as the fist filled his vision.

The fist brushed past the green cheek forcing Todd to blink in protection and drop Shepherd. Shepherd felt himself fall just as the feeding hand's nails scrapped against his chest.

The touch of death brought clarity upon a pair who was alike in too many ways.

Staggering the two men moved away from each other panting loudly. Shepherd felt his chest throbbed in rememberence at how close he had come to getting feed upon and by the same wraith. Todd raised his trembling hand to touch his cheek glad that no injuries had resulted. He needed to remain unscathed if he was to continue ruling over the Alliance. Already, the wraith amongst his hive where whispering words of mutiny.

"W-we didn't kn-know," panted Shepherd. Fear split a bucket of ice-cold water over him shocking him back into reality. All he wanted to do was kill Todd for all the trouble he caused. But if that meant getting himself killed in the process, well Teyla and Rodney would never let it down.

Todd swallowed and was the first to regain his composure. Golden eyes fell onto the ground. He could not face this man at the moment. A few seconds ago all he wanted to do was finish the job he had started years ago. Even now, his feeding hand trembled in anticipation. But it would go against his primary oath to the man he had given him the Gift of Life to. It was the highest sin a wraith could commit: to feed upon his own brother, especially when given the Gift.

"I know," looking back Todd realized he did know, just did not want to listen. How could they have know? They were still strangers to this galaxy and barely knew of all the secrets Atlantis held. In his eyes, they were children playing in a mindfield. One false move or touch could end up in disaster. Their ignorance and curosity would be not only be their downfall but that of the entire galaxy.

Sighing quietly, Todd could not help but feel like an adult forced to watch over the younglings to make sure they did not do anything catestrophic. If he could gain Shepherd's trust in the tiniest amount, then maybe he could leave them alone for a while and not have to worry every week if they were if they were under Shepherd's supervision. Then again Shepherd was in charge when this whole incident began. It seemed the man himself could not be left alone for five minutes. Trouble followed him like a Kathon stank bug. Then the only option left was for Shepherd to grow up by realizing the true extent of his situation.

He heard Shepherd's feet shuffle against the ground and braced himself for another attack. None came. Tilting his head upwards, Todd regarded the flushed face of the colonel. He couldn't help but smile inside. The calm mask was back in place.

"Then why? Why did you want to ram the ship into the planet killing everyone on board?" Shepherd took a step forward but did not make any gesture to provoke another fight. Instead his hands hung by his side, fingers digging into his palms, "You promised you would return the ship and everyone would be safe."

Todd nodded, eyes traveling off to the side, "I did and would have if not for the doctor and her accomplice sabotaging the ship. They had destroyed the weapons system leaving with me little choice in ensuring the destruction of the Ontario device." Pausing, Todd locked his eyes on Shepherd, "I did not know you would come. Desperate times call for desperate measures, Shepherd."

John felt his mouth fall open slightly as all the air left his lungs. Eyes widened slightly as he took in those words.

Todd blinked slowly, "You would have done the same thing if you were in my place." Tilting his head downwards, Todd broke eye contact, raised his hand and touched his swollen lip. The bleeding had stopped.

Running a hand through his hair to hide the trembling, Shepherd fought to sort out the revelation. Would he truly have acted the same way as Todd if their roles were reversed? Would he go on a suicidal mission and risk everyone's life on board if it meant in the end of such a dangerous device? Would he threaten someone's life to get the information he needed if it meant the protection of his home and race?

The answer was simple.

Yes.

Looking back in his life ever since he arrived in the Pegasus Galaxy, John realized the dangerous missions he took in ensuring the destruction of the enemy or device. He remembered the threats he made at Koyla and the Queens. He could hear the shots of reason for him to stop but he ignored each one as he drowned himself in the Chair or fighting against the Replicators. If he had lost his men and knew that there were millions out there losing their lives, he would demand where the cause was and go off to destroy it without a second thought. Hell, he did that.

Sighing, he stuffed his hands into his pockets feeling for the first time the cold night air. The sun had disappeared behind the horizon and he could spot the stars beginning to glow in the sky. His team would be worrying about him right now.

Shifting, he frowned slightly before eying Todd who had stood quietly gazing at the grass with a feigned interest.

"Desperate times…"

Todd shot up, his face impassive as ever. But Shepherd could see the twitching of the wraith's lips revealing the anticipation that he must have been waiting for.

"Desperate measures," whispered back Todd.

"Yeah," Shepherd sighed, feeling a heavy burden pull him down, "It was an accident." He couldn't drop the point. It was the only rational excuse he could come up with when facing the destruction of countless villages.

"An accident that cost dearly," Lips thinning, Todd tried to sort his mind in how to salvage this mess the two found themselves in. That was why he was here in the first place. Sure, he had told Shepherd that he merely wanted to know what had happened to the Ontario device, which was true to an extent in that he had fled the scene once his ship had departed.

Shepherd nodded his head in understanding, "Yeah well, we're fixing that up. Just another day in the Pegasus Galaxy." John didn't know why he did what he did next. On some level, he wanted to atone for everything he did wrong. But, he knew that Todd was a valuable ally and he needed to help lay some groundwork over the rubble of their past relationship. What did Woosley say? Todd had baggage when it concerned him? Maybe he could play that in his favor. But as those words left his mouth, Shepherd knew it wasn't for alliance sake, it was for his own.

"I'm sorry."

Todd blinked in surprise. He had not expected an apology. Growling softly in his throat, Todd frowned and hunched his shoulders upwards in a nervous manner, "Sorry for taking over the ship and threatening Woosley."

"Sorry for wanting to blow you out of the sky and indirectly leading to the destruction of your ships."

Todd felt a small sliver of that bloodlust once again. Straightening his back, he watched as Shepherd's eyes narrowed into blue slits.

"But if you ever assume or even think that I would knowingly cause an action that results in the death of innocent people, I will not be so open minded next time."

Todd chuckled deeply, "Then do not doubt my intentions as well." Smirking, he could not help but realize that they were standing underneath the black night sky with the quiet woods around them. It was eerily like another planet. "Or all bets are off."

A dark nostaligic smirk flashed across Shepherd's features, "Right, next time we meet."

Todd continued to chuckle as he turned and made his way to the boulder. Picking up the pile, he tossed it back to Shepherd. "Your teammates will be looking for you."

Shrugging on his vest, Shepherd kept his eyes locked on Todd. The weariness of their very first alliance between them radiated off his eyes. It was back to square one all over again. "Surprised they aren't here yet. Rodney's pretty quick about these things, concealed tracker or not."

"Yes well we are on the opposite side of the planet and concealment will wear off once I leave."

Clipping his gun into place, Shepherd perched his hands on the butt end. "Let me guess, you want me to keep this little meeting a secret."

"Of course," grinned Todd. Hitting a button on his wrist, he waited for the drone ship to come and pick him up. "Before we part, let me warn you John Shepherd."

Curiosity peeked on the human's raising. There it was again, his first name. Todd could hear the familiar buzzing sound approaching fast.

"Be careful with the devices you touch on Atlantis, for there are others out there worse than the Ontario device."

Shepherd felt his skin pale and was about to ask what when a blinding light flashed into existence. Blinking away the dots, John snarled when he realized that he was alone. Todd was nowhere in sight. He had disappeared once again, the master of sneaking out the back door.

Irritated, he clipped the earpiece back into place. John waited a couple seconds to gather his thoughts before touching it. "Shepherd here, anyone out there?"

"Shepherd! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?"

Rodney's loud, obnoxious tone made him flinch. "Look, can you locate me?"

Cursing in the background marked Rodney's irritated attitude. Thankfully it was Teyla that responded, "Yes John. Your tracker had been off-line for almost three hours. We were worried-"

"I'm fine, just come pick me up." Shutting off his earpiece, John made his way to the boulder and sat down. Crossing his arms, he waited for his friends to pick him up in the puddle jumper.

All the time, he pondered over Todd's parting words. He still believed that the Ontario device was not their fault. It was the Asgards. Then again, if Rodney and Jackson had not found the hidden lab, maybe none of this would have happened. If they had been more careful in examining the lab or posted more guards...

As the puddle jumper landed and he jumped in, John ignored the questioning glance of Ronon; Teyla's quiet fussing to make sure he was all right and Rodney's blabbering accusations.

Kicking the fuming scientist out of the pilot seat, John settled in, "It's been a long day. I just want to go back to the village and sleep."

Teyla and Ronon exchanged glances before nodding.

"Very well, John." Teyla's soft tone did little to hide her disappointment at not knownign what had happened to her missing her friend.

Rodney scoffed and crossed his arms as he settled in the co-pilot seat. "Sleep my butt. I want to know how the hell you ended way over in the boondocks of boondocks. I mean the other side of the planet! Come on!"

Shepherd continued to zone out Rodney's ranting, focusing on the soothing act of flying. But still he heard Todd's voice in the back of his mind. If the wraith was right, which John felt he was considering he knew what the Ontario device was and the fact he was over 10,000 years old, then from now one they had to be extra careful. He would have to hone his instincts and observations to avoid any future problems. Atlantis couldn't afford another blunder that had such devastating ramifications. Shepherd couldn't help but feel that even with all their efforts to help the affected people and apologies, their actions would catch up with them.

And then they would pay for them.

Drastic times and drastic measures would no longer be good enough excuses.

--

A/N: Ok, I couldn't help myself at the end. The last part here is kinda foreshadowing this upcoming episode where the Atlantis team is put on trial for their actions. And like I said, so glad Todd is alive but I hope he comes back, for a movie or something.


End file.
